Teaching in Low-Performing Schools

With over one million students and nearly 1,600 schools, New York City is the largest and most diverse public school district in the country. New York City is also the most rapidly improving urban public school district, committed to the achievement of all of its students and with a graduation rate that has increased almost 33 percent since 2002. However, we know that there is still much more to do to ensure that all New York City students receive an excellent education.

The Achievement Gap in New York City

In New York City, almost 4 in 10 public school students do not earn a high school diploma within four years and more than 3 in 10 students do not meet New York State standards in mathematics and English Language Arts.  In the lowest performing schools in New York City, these rates are even more critical with low-income and minority students performing, on average, several grade levels below their more affluent peers on standardized tests. 

We know that effective teachers are the most important school-level factor in determining student success, and that highly effective teachers have the potential to close the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and their more affluent peers.

Why You Should Teach in a Low-Performing School in NYC

We know that our lowest performing schools struggle to retain a critical mass of high quality teachers who commit to stay and teach in our schools.  In response to this need, The NYC Teaching Residency for School Turnaround program develops a pipeline of highly effective teachers to help staff these low performing schools in order to raise student achievement in New York City.

Residents will teach in New York City’s lowest performing schools where less than 60 percent of students graduate on time and student performance on New York State assessments in English Language Arts and/or math is far below average.

 By working in the lowest performing schools in New York City, NYC Teaching Residents will work as a cohort of individuals committed to the mission of achieving significant academic gains in their classrooms and turning low performing schools into schools in which all students can learn.  These schools will also receive federal funding and district resources to support their improvement.

Learn more about our approach and the benefits of the NYC Teaching Residency program.